"What the Hay" pictures on MontanaPictures.net (Page one of seven)
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| 91804 Utica,Montana | |
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People work hard preparing for winter in Montana. |
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| On September 12th they take a break from the work and have a little fun. | |
| What started out as a joke between two neighbors back in 1989 | |
| has “stacked-up” to be an annual September event called the “What the Hay" contest | |
| organized by the Utica, Montana "Rod and Gun" club. | |
| NOTE: The following is a fictitious account of how the “What the Hay” contest in Utica, Montana was started fifteen years ago. | |
| For over one hundred years hay has been cut and stored for winter cattle feed in Montana. | |
| Year after year, the cattle faced the same three basic choices of hay for dinner. | |
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| 62203 "Beaver slide" near Maverick Mountain (Dillon,Montana) | |
| Originally, the hay was stacked in tall piles with the use of a “Beaver slide.” | |
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| 120703 "Deep creek" Valley (Townsend,Montana) | |
| Later the hay was "cubed" into eighty-pound rectangular bales. | |
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| 92504 Helena, Montana | |
| The eighty-pound rectangular bales are easier to move, you just throw a bale on your truck. (See below) | |
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| 92404 Geyser,Montana | |
| Unfortunately, the bale is a labor intensive method of storing cattle feed. | |
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| 41303 Augusta,Montana | |
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Finally, a third method was developed about three decades ago. |
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| The hay was rolled into two thousand pound round bales. | |
| Frankly, the cattle were getting bored with the repetitious food presentation. | |
| In an effort to spark interest in the nutritious but boring hay | |
| new “designer hay” dishes were developed. | |
| The new dishes were introduced to the cattle for dinner and follow-up surveys were conducted. | |
| The following page has some of the survey results: | |
| "What the Hay" pictures (Page one of seven) |
| Continue to page two of the "What the Hay" tour |
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